Meal planning is an important piece of the puzzle! If you choose not to attempt meal planning, you may find yourself leaning on excuse after excuse and that will not get you anywhere. I try to meal plan for the entire week and that includes weekends. Here are some reasons that I choose to meal plan:
1. Nutrition – I am able to eat balanced and healthy throughout the day. I use the concepts from the 21 Day Fix nutrition guide. It provides for a solid foundation for eating balanced as well as portion control. You will notice that my meal plans incorporate the count of each color coded container based on my calorie range. There is no such thing as counting calories or points; think healthy and simple!
- Red: Protein
- Green: Veggies
- Purple: Fruit
- Yellow: Carbs
- Blue: Healthy Fats (avocado) and Cheeses
- Orange: Nuts and Dressings
2. Money – I end up saving money by not buying all of the boxed processed foods. It will depend on your budget whether you choose to buy organic or not. Regardless, you will be eating healthier. There is less food wasted as a result of planning my meals.
3. Efficiency – I know exactly what I need when I go to the grocery store ahead of the time and this eliminates the need to go back to the store during the week. I focus on buying only the ingredients required to make each recipe since many of the ingredients you may already have in the pantry.
4. Simplicity – My dinners do incorporate more variety for my family; however, you will notice that breakfast, snack 1, and snack 2 may be consistent from day to day each week, but this is something that is easy for me as it relates to shopping and prepping. Each meal plan will vary depending on if you are only feeding yourself or if you are using the meal plan to feed your entire family. It will also depend on whether your kids are in school or not, etc. This is where we can spend more time and talk, individually, to further help you meal plan!
5. More Time for Family – I find that overall, I am less stressed during the week as I know exactly what there is to eat when I meal plan. Less time is spent cooking dinner and more time is spent together as a family; we have time to talk about our day or catch up on what happened in our daughter’s life.
Be prepared and you will be successful!
Tips:
- Plan a crockpot meal on your busy day(s)
- Chicken can be boiled and shredded on Sunday; then use for your recipes during the week
- Allow for one cheat meal each week
- Mashed up avocado in place of mayonnaise on burgers
- Pay close attention to ingredients; especially High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Eat frequently throughout the day (Breakfast, AM Snack, Lunch, PM Snack, Dinner)
- If you are going on a road trip then pack a cooler with smarter food choices. Apples and almonds are a great on the go snack.
- Drinking your shakeology before an event or running errands will help you avoid temptations!
- Start meal planning by using recipes that you know that you enjoy and then each week browse Pinterest or my website to add a few new recipes. Keep the recipes that you enjoy in a binder or saved to your computer.
- If you get in to a rut then always try to think simple. Perhaps steak and broccoli for dinner. If you did not eat all of your carbohydrates for the day then add some brown rice and make a stir fry!
For more tips, support, recipes, meal planning, and other health and wellness assistance, please apply here by completing my get support form!
Melissa Brown 